Oval elevated storage tank



Ap B. M. BLACKBURN I 1,997,808

7 OVAL ELEVATED STORAGE TANK Filed 001:. 7, 1953 3'Sheets-Sheet 1 awk 22Jil ' Bray/m1 M. BLACKBURN B. M. BLACKBURN OVAL ELEVATED STORAGE TANKApril 16, 1935.

.93s s Shets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. '7,

IIIIIIIII'II IIl-llllulllllllll'll'lull llllllll |l|||||| "l lllllllullll'll Ill- -.BRYAN M. BLACKBURN W A rifl 16, 1935. M. BLACKBURNOVAL ELEVATED STORAGE TANK Filed Oct. 7, 1933 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 BRYAN M.BLACKBURN Patented ,Apr 16, 1935 e um'rso- STATES;,PATENT OFFiC l-l ovALELEVATED s'roaaca rm r Bryan M. Blackburn, Newman, Ga., Moito n. D. ColeManufacturingflo.) Ncwnan, Ga., a oorporationof Georgia Application mm1, 1933, Serial No. mm

' '1 Claims. (01. eat-1) vision of a central tower, unconcerned with thesupport of the tank, but functioning to house the supply riser, overflowpipes and perhaps other conduits associated with the tank, and providedat its base with a chamber within which are located theinstrumentalities concerned with e the fllling and draining of the tank.

Qtherobjects of the invention will appear as the following descriptionof a preferred and practical embodiment thereof proceeds.

Referring to the drawings which accompany and form a part of thefollowing specification: Figure 1 is a side elevation of a tankembodying the features of the present invention;

' lating device at the base or the finial;

Figure 2 is a vertical diametrical section through the tank;

Y Figure 3 is a sectionshowing the umbrellalike framework whichmaintains the shape of the top of the tank and cooperates with otherelements to constitute a circular load support--- ing girder;

Figure 4 is a detail partly in section of the umbrella-shapedframework;' K

Figure 5 is a vertical section through the lower part of the tower;

Figure 61s a section taken along the line 66 of Figure 5, looking down;

Figure 7 isfla vertical section the tower and tank;,.

Figure 8-1sa section taken along the line 8-8 of Figure 6, looking up; 7

Figure 9 is a vertical section through a venti- Figure 10 is a sectiontaken along the line Ill-l0 of Figure 8, looking up; I r

Figure 11 is a plan view-of-the spider; Figure12 is a. detail showingthe means of attachment of the floor of the lower balcony and the groundcolumn to the shell of the tank; and

Figure 13 is a detail showing the mode of attacliment of the upperbalcony to the tank.

Referring now in detail to the several figures, the numeral l representsthe shell of the tank which is oval in vertical cross section, that isto say, spheroidal in shape and designed to be made in large sizes, forexample -sixty feet in diameter. Such a tank devoid of any cylindricalwall porever by the provision v through the upper part of the towershowing the slip joint between the dimculty of maintaining the ovalshape under stress of the enormous load which it is called upon tosupport. The present invention howof ingenious devices, a deQ- scriptionof which follows, makes the oval shape thoroughly practicable and withan ample factor of safety.

Co-axially arranged and secured-thereto is an within the top of theshell rella-like framework 2 fabricated from curved members of comtionswould ordinarily be impracticable in view of I mercial cross section andconstituted by a central ring 3 from which emanate, preferably radiaiiy,a V outer ends to a circumferential ring 5. The upper surfacesof saidmembers conform to the con cave inner surface of the shell land aresecured thereto by. rivets.

Within the tank and at a suitable distance below the framework 2 is asystem of tension members comprising a spider 8 having a circumferentialseries of apertures see Figure 11, in which are bolted theinner ends ofa plurality plurality of joists-.4 secured at .their of rods 8extendingradially and attached at their outer ends to suitable cleats 9secured to the shell. The rods 8 are preferably provided with turnbuckles I I! so that they can be adjusted to equalize thetension onumbrella-like framework 2 together with the system of tension membersand the web constituted by the intervening zone of the tank shell,constitute a circular girder, whose .maxi

mum depth is the distance of the spider from shell which the system oftension members subtends.

The lower part of the oval shell is supported upon a series of groundcolumns H secured to said shell at equal intervals in a'zone which liesbelow the equatorial plane of the spheroids Theintermediate portion ofthe shell is supported and reinforced" by a pair of5flat circumferentialflanges l2 and li'arranged on the outside of the tank and lying inplanes parallel to the equatorial plane. For the sake ,of appearance andalso with a utilitarian object in view, the flanges l2 and I3 are madethe floors of upper and lower balconies I4 and I5, each of which affordsa walk-way around the tank. Said flanges act according to theprlncipleof .barrelhoops and prevent the equatorial portion of the tankfrom bulging. By the cooperation of these several devices, the ovalshape of the tank is perpetuated.

The tank I has a supply riser l6 opening adj acent the bottom thereofand an overflow pipe ll which determines the high level of water withinthe shell. The upper end of the over flow pipe preferably passes throughthe spider all of said rods. The- :the center of the framework 2. Itisthis girder I 6 being supported thereby. Access to the interior of thetank is obtained through a trap door I8. A ladder l9 which follows thecurvature of the upper portion of the tankis revolubly mounted about theaxis of the tank and may be swung to any desired angular position, theladder travelling on rollers which bear against the surface of theshell. The lower end of the ladder ends adjacent/the upper balcony l4and a-second ladder 2| extends between the two balconies. The lowerbalcony is reached by means of a ladder 22 which rises from the ground.Adjacent the trap door l8 on the inside of the tank is the ladder 23which in conjunction with the curved ladder 24 permits easy access tothe bottom of the tank.

An ornamental finial 25 of any suitable construction or design may gracethe top of the tank, and preferably the lower part of this finial formsa ventilator for aerating the body of water within the tank. With thisend in view, the top of the shell, surrounding the axis thereof, isformed with an opening 26, see Figure 9, preferably provided with anupwardly extending flange 21. The bottom of the finial is constituted asa circumferentially reticulated screen 28 through which air may pass,and through the opening 26, into the tank. The up-turned flange 21 ofthe opening 26 acts as a battle to change the direction of the enteringair so that the velocity thereof will be momentarily checked and foreignmatter borne by the wind will be deposited outside the tank. a

The .tank is at the head of a central tower 30 preferably fabricatedfrom curved sheet metal sections and 50 arranged as to be relieved fromthe load of the tank and its contents, which load is borne practicallyexclusively by the series of ground columns H. Since the thermalexpansion of the tower 30 will be different from that of the groundcolumns II in view of the loaded condition of the latter, it has beenfound advantageous to provide a slip joint-between the top of the towerand the under-surface of the tank. This slip joint is shown in Figures 7and 8, and is constituted by an annular flange 3| riveted or otherwisesecured to the bottom of the shell of the tank and affording a cup orsocket into which the upper end portion 32 of the tower extends. Thewall of the tower isnot fastened to the annular flange 3|, permittingrelative longitudinal movement between the tank and tower.

Figure 5 shows thatthe overflow pipe H, the riser l6, and a ladder 34are housed within the tower. The lower end of the tower in the presentembodiment of the invention rests upon a hollow concrete base 35, theinnerchamber of which functions as a housing for the valves whichcontrol the access and discharge water from the tank. The valve 36controls a blow-off pipe 31 which is opened for the purpose of drainingthe tank. The valve 38 controls the admission of water to the tank byway of the riser. The riser may also serve the purpose of a dischargeconduit from the tank to the water mains, being suitably valved for thatpurpose. Access to the lower part of the tower 30 is obtained through amanhole 39.

It is obvious that while the invention has been described in connectionwith a tank of spheroidal shape, it may be equally practiced inconnection with tanks of different contour. It is also to be understoodthat the details of construction and the arrangement of the severalcooperative shapesustaining devices within the shell of the tank may bevaried according to the exigencies of use without departing from thespirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

What I claim is:

1. Elevated storage tank having a shell of curved contour, a stiffeningframework within said shell symmetrically arranged about the upper poleof its vertical axis and conforming to the contour of the polar regionof said shell, a series of ground columns constituting the wall supportfor said shell and secured thereto at intervals in a zone below theequatorial plane of said shell, and acentral tower from the ground tothe bottom of said shell having a slip joint connection with said shelland thus being free from contributing to the support of said tank.

2. Elevated storage tank having a shell of curved contour, a stiffeningframe fabricated from metallic membranes of commercial cross sectionarranged symmetrically with respect to the upper pole of the verticalaxis of said shell, conforming to the curvature of the polar regionthereof and secured thereto within said shell, said framework comprisinginner and outer rings connected by a series of radiating struts, and aradiating series of tension members within said shell lying ina planeperpendicular to the vertical axis thereof and below said framework,said radial struts being secured at intervals into said shell andconstituting with said framework and the intervening portion of saidshell, a girder.

3. Elevated storage tank having a shell of oval contour, means forsustaining the shape of said tank under load comprising a stiffframework secured within the upper polar region of said shellsymmetrically with the vertical axis thereof, a series of radiatingstruts arranged below said framework lying in a plane perpendicular tosaid vertical axis and secured at intervals to said shell, and a pair ofencompassing flanges extending outwardly from said shell on oppositesides of the equatorial plane thereof and parallel to said equatorialplane.

4. Elevated storage tank as claimed in claim 3, said outwardly extendingflanges constituting the floors of balconies.

5. Elevated storage tank as claimed in claim 3, said outwardly extendingflanges constituting the floors of balconies, and a series of groundcolumns floors of balconies, a series of ground columns secured to saidshell in a zone below the lower of said outwardly extending flanges, anda tower from the ground to the bottom of said shell having a slip jointconnection therewith and thus being free from contributing to thesupport of said tank.

7. Elevatedstorage tank as claimed in claim 3, said outwardly extendingflanges constituting the floors of balconies, a series of ground columnssecured to said shell in a zone below the lower of said outwardlyextending flanges, and a tower from the ground to the bottom of saidshellhave ing a slip joint connection therewith and thus being free fromcontributingto the support of said tank, said tower constitutinga=housing for servo-devices such as pipes and a ladder.

BRYAN MIBLACKBURN.

